Carney: No W.H. role on bridge flap

The White House has no role to play in the process underway over news that aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie engineered a traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge, press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday.

Carney said he didn’t know if President Barack Obama watched any of Christie’s marathon press conference Thursday, but that the continuing controversy over lane closures “sounds very much like a state matter to me.”

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Carney said the White House would not be consulted by the Justice Department before any federal investigation of the bridge scandal. New Jersey’s U.S. attorney announced earlier Thursday that an investigation had begun.

“There’s certainly nothing that involves the White House with this issue and to the extent of any involvement of the federal government, you’d have to ask the Department of Justice,” Carney said.